Roy Schestowitz wrote:
> Vista Minimum Requirements Unrealistic
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | A white paper published this morning by hardware analysis firm iSuppli,
> | based on its studies of Microsoft Windows Vista running on multiple grades
> | of computer hardware, has concluded that the software publisher's stated
> | minimum requirements for the system -- which include an 800 MHz processor,
> | 512 MB of RAM, and a 35 GB hard drive -- may not be nearly enough.
> `----
> http://www.betanews.com/article/Vista_Minimum_Requirements_Unrealistic/1165596677
And it wasn't so long ago that Microsoft was claiming that XP would run
in 64MB of RAM on a 100 Mhz processor (or something equally
rediculous), yet in practice, most users feel that they need around 512
Mb and at least a 1 Ghz processor to get the most out of Windows XP.
The irony is that many "Linux Ready" machines are actually "too
powerful" for Windows Vista. They boast 64 bit processors, 2 GB RAM,
and OpenGL optimized graphics.
Keep in mind however, that when Microsoft gives Minimum requirements,
these are the absolute minimum to run the absolute minimum of software.
This is well known by anyone who makes real IT decisions. Generally,
multiplying each value by about 4, gives the practical or typical
requirements. This would be consistent with the systems being made
today, with 3.6 Ghz processors, 2Gig of RAM, and 150 GB drives. This
would be similar to most of the machines sold in the last 2-3 years,
with the exception of the extra RAM.
The only problem of course, is that these would also be the
requirements for a Virtual machine as well. This certainly makes XP or
Windows 2000 more attractive as a VM client, but perhaps Microsoft has
figured out how to make a lighter VM version.
Keep in mind that Microsoft's increased requirements tend to drive PC
sales of higher end machines. The irony is that Linux, especially SUSE
10.0 and 10.1 has been driving a different breed of PCs. The Windows
machines have been driving Intel monocore processors, with DirectX
video cards, while Linux machines have been driving 64 bit and
Multicore processors and OpenGL video cards.
This fork in technology is very new to the industry. And the advent of
high-profit offerings based on Linux vs the commodity pricing of
Microsoft, could trigger some very interesting shifts in policies among
the OEMs.
It could be an interesting year.
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